The present invention is intended to provide protection for a variety of electrical and electronic devices against the effects of electromagnetic pulses (EMPs), high energy radio frequency (HERF) electromagnetic effects, and effects produced by flux compression generators (FCG), magneto-hydrodynamic generators (MHD), virtual cathode oscillators (vircator), and the like.
EMPs are characterized by short but intense bursts of electromagnetic energy, which propagate away from their source with diminishing intensity. These electromagnetic shock waves can produce transient voltages of thousands of volts, sufficient to cause irreversible damage to a variety of electrical and electronic systems and devices. A complete description of the problem addressed by the present invention is found in Kopp, Carlo, “The E-Bomb—a Weapon of Electrical Mass Destruction”, Department of Computer Science, Monash University, Clayton, Australia, published on the Internet at www.infowar.com/mil_c4i/mil_c4i8.html-ssi, and incorporated herein by reference. Another description of the problem can be found at Maxwell Technologies, Inc.'s website at www.maxwell.com/microelectronics/products/neds/neds_detail.html, (Maxwell Technologies, Inc., San Diego, Calif.) which describes the problem as follows:                The short pulse of ionizing radiation produced by a nuclear weapon presents a major threat to military electronics. This radiation is normally in the form of x-rays or gamma rays, which generate excess electron-hole pairs within all semiconductor devices. These excess electron-hole pairs result in a transient leakage current, called photocurrent, across reverse biased junctions. The transient photocurrents can cause devices to upset or to be permanently damaged. Circumvention encompasses all of the design features required to prevent this upset or permanent damage from ionizing radiation pulses. Using circumvention, the upset-hardening requirements for the majority of the system have been reduced or eliminated, thus minimizing the impact of nuclear hardening on the overall system.        
A variety of solutions are known in the art to “harden” electrical circuits to avoid damage from EMPs, including transorbs and optical isolation techniques. What is needed, though, is a cost effect, low capacitance solution that minimizes the effects of data line loading and is easier to retrofit into existing circuitry.
There is thus a longfelt need for an electromagnetic protection ASIC.